“You can’t fill up when you’re holding your breath. And writing is about filling up, filling up when you are empty, letting images and ideas and smells run down like water—just as writing is also about dealing with the emptiness.” (Ann Lamott)

brick wall webI like the part about letting ideas and smells run down like water. You cannot force art and you can’t fake it. You are only truly creative when you let everything in your experience- the good the bad and the ugly, the successes and the failures, the fullness and the emptiness, into the sandbox to play with you. You are only creative when you have the freedom to experiment without putting up walls—without boundaries. Without worrying, “Wait, we aren’t supposed to talk about that.” Structure, yes. Structure is important in order for whatever we are trying to explore to make sense.

So, what is the difference between structure and boundaries?

We put up boundaries and walls all the time. Its human nature. Art is about breaking them down. Boundaries are artificial constructs. Like, the lines of kids coloring books or the rules to Parcheesi, or, as Ann Lamott says, not mentioning that uncle who drinks. Structure is the architecture, the foundation, the bones. Without structure you personally would turn into a blob of goo.

Putting up boundaries, such as, “I’m going to do “whatever” in the next 15 minutes” gets in the way of creativity. Better to say, I’m going to work on X for 15 minutes and see where I am. Then go ahead and make some goals for the next 15 minutes (better yet get lost in what you are doing and lose track of time altogether). You really can’t schedule creativity. Art has a way of making a mockery of schedules.

Pigeon holing the genres in which you work—saying “I only do or listen to X”, is another way of putting up boundaries. When you limit the areas in which you listen or work, you also limit your creative expression. Art is about everything not about limiting your connections to the world.

And, before you ask, Yes. Yes, you can absolutely knock boundaries on their heads and explore them as an artistic expression.

 

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